Armored Core: Last Raven

Armored Core: Last Raven is a 2005 third-person shooter mecha video game developed by FromSoftware for the PlayStation 2. It is the eleventh entry in the Armored Core series and a direct sequel to 2004's Armored Core: Nexus. In 2010, Armored Core: Last Raven was ported to the PlayStation Portable.
Last Raven concludes the storyline that began with 2002's Armored Core 3. The previously warring corporations have merged into a single organization called The Alliance, while a group of mercenaries called Vertex rise to oppose them. The player takes the role of an unaffiliated mercenary, a Raven, and is given the option of which faction to support, leading to several distinct endings for the first time in the series.
Gameplay remains largely unchanged from the game's predecessors and is centered around piloting a large mech in combat missions for various clients. As players complete missions, they can earn credits to purchase new parts and items to further customize their mech.
Gameplay
As with previous titles, players in Last Raven are pilots of mech robots called Armored Cores. Players can take on over 70 missions that play out over a 24-hour period. Completed missions provide the player with credits to spend on parts and weapons, and can influence the availability of subsequent missions. The 24-hour period incrementally moves forward with each mission, and mission choices can dictate the narrative ending the player receives.
Customization is identical to previous entries. Players start the game with 300,000 credits and a basic Armored Core. They can alter the mech with hundreds of parts and weapons, each of which can change the player's gameplay experience. A component damage system allows for parts to be broken individually over the course of a mission, drastically affecting its performance. For example, damaging its legs crippled its movement, while damaging its arms removes its ability to use hand-held weapons.
Story
In the wake of the now defunct Navis's failed attempt to control recovered ancient weapons technology at the end of Armored Core: Nexus, the world has been left in tatters. Looking to consolidate power, the remaining corporations have merged into one super-corporation known as "The Alliance". Fed up with corporate rule and oppression, and seeing a newfound threat in The Alliance, a Raven known as Jack-O forms an organization of Ravens known as "Vertex" from the ashes of the fallen Raven's Ark. After rallying a sizable force of fellow Ravens to his cause, Jack-O declares that he will launch an all-out war on the Alliance in 24 hours. Leading the opposing force, a Raven named Evangel has rallied just as many Ravens to the Alliance and is preparing to fight Jack-O head on. Making matters all the more complicated, many Ravens have turned into independent warlords, setting out on their own after the collapse of Raven's Ark.
The player, one of a surviving Raven, begins the game by choosing to take a mission for either Vertex or The Alliance. After completing the mission they are introduced to Evangel, Zinaida, and Jack-O; The major characters of the struggle.
Throughout the story missions, the Raven learns the existence of "Dominant", an extremely gifted pilot who can turn the tide of war. This was a title sought by Evangel, who are driven to become the strongest by any means necessary. In middle game, Evangel betrays The Alliance to infiltrate Vertex from within. Meanwhile, Jack-O puts Zinaida and the Raven through several missions which often pit them against other Ravens. It is revealed that Jack-O was so desperate to find the Dominant that he would go so far as to betray or execute fellow members of Vertex if he felt they didn't measure up.
The struggle reaches its climax at an energy plant, where the Raven learns of a destructive weapon called Pulverizers. Following several attacks by seemingly rogue Pulverizers, it is revealed that an AI called Internecine is controlling them and was responsible for the weapons attack at the end of Armored Core: Nexus. Jack-O reveals to the Raven that the true purpose of this war to find the Dominant that are strong enough to stop the Internecine and the Pulverizers.
Endings
Armored Core: Last Raven features multiple distinct endings based on the path which the player chose to follow through the game. There are six distinct endings in total.
Alliance Ending: Evangel's defection to Vertex is revealed to be a deception and part of a plot to undermine Vertex from within. At the end of the 24-Hour War, Vertex is crushed by Alliance. Under Jack's orders, Zinaida manages to shut down the Internecine. Alliance finds Jack at the Internecine and send the player to eliminate him. Upon the player's arrival, Jack reveals that he volunteered to go down as a villain before challenges them to a duel and is subsequently killed. Jack thanks the player for giving him a final fight as a Raven.
Leviathan Ending: Alliance is completely crushed by Vertex. In a last-ditch effort to turn the tides, Alliance sends in their remaining forces and three Leviathans to Versurs Highland, where they are defeated by the player, thus leaving Vertex as the undisputed victor of the war.
Pulverizer Ending 1: Alliance manages to narrowly defeat Vertex. By the end of the 24-Hour War, Jack tries to stop Evangel but failed. Before dying, Jack apologizes to the player and tasks him to stop Evangel. The player later fights and defeated Evangel, who is now piloting a Pulverizer.
Evangel Ending: Alliance is thoroughly defeated by Vertex but Jack has once again gone missing. Evangel sneaks into Circ-City in order to destroy the Internecine and is defeated by the player, who shuts down the facility while Evangel faces off against a Pulverizer.
Pulverizer Ending 2: The 24-Hour War ends in a stalemate as the Pulverizers decimate both sides, resulting in the death of every Raven except the player, Jack-O, and Zinaida. Both Jack and Zinaida are killed trying to shut down the Internecine, effectively making the player character the literal "Last Raven". The Last Raven defeats the last Pulverizers and successfully shuts down the Internecine. It's the one of two endings that have unique credits.
Zinaida Ending: This path also resulting in the death of every Raven except the player, Jack-O (who gone missing) and Zinaida. The player accepted the final task that left by Jack-O and go to Circ-City. The player destroyed the Internecine beneath Circ-City and Zinaida destroyed the Pulverizers. Zinaida later challenged in a one-on-one battle with the player. After the player won, Zinaida acknowledged the player's strength and worthy of "Raven" title. This path ends with the player, becoming the "Last Raven" leaving the Circ-City with an epilogue text about Ravens at the end. It's the one of two endings that have unique credits.
Secret Ending: This ending opens up after every mission in the game is cleared. Chronologically, it takes place after the Pulverizer 2 ending. One last Pulverizer emerges from the Internecine after its destruction, and a mission request from an unknown client is sent to the "Last Raven", who is hired to destroy the sole surviving Pulverizer. The Last Raven destroys the final Pulverizer and solidifies his position as the best of the best.
Release
Armored Core: Last Raven was initially released in Japan for the Sony PlayStation 2 on August 4, 2005. FromSoftware partnered with Agetec and released a North American version on June 13, 2006. A European version was released in partnership with 505 Games on October 6, 2006.
Armored Core: Last Raven Portable
Armored Core: Last Raven was re-released for the PlayStation Portable as Armored Core: Last Raven Portable. In Japan, it was released on March 4, 2010. A North American version was later released on May 4, while a European version was released on July 14. The re-release includes widescreen support, an ad hoc multiplayer mode, and the ability to import save data from Armored Core 3: Portable.
Reception
Last Raven received "mixed or average reviews" on both platforms according to the review aggregator websites GameRankings and Metacritic. The game was praised for continuing the impressive level of customization that Armored Core has become renown for, yet it was also cited as a daunting barrier to new players. GameSpot's review of the PlayStation 2 version claimed the difficulty of the story and arena missions were too steep, and relied too much on trial and error to customize the player character successfully for the challenges at hand. IGN's review of the same console version was slightly more favorable, but still criticized the game's extreme learning curve, the lack of new graphics, and lack of significant innovations to the game's formula. In Japan, Famitsu gave the game a score of 29 out of 40 for the PS2 version, and 26 out of 40 for the PSP version.
Notes
References
Text was copied from Armored Core: Last Raven at Armored Core Wiki, which is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA 3.0) license.
External links
Armored Core: Last Raven at FromSoftware
2005 video games
505 Games games
Armored Core
PlayStation 2 games
PlayStation Portable games
Video games about mecha
Third-person shooters
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Video games developed in Japan
Video games scored by Kota Hoshino
Agetec games